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Hunter Biden’s ex-lawyer ordered to pay $50K to former Trump aide after harassment claims crumble
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FIRST ON FOX: The Superior Court of California is ordering Kevin Morris, an attorney notoriously dubbed as Hunter Biden’s «sugar brother,» to pay $50,000 to former Trump aide Garrett Ziegler and Marco Polo, the conservative nonprofit research group he founded, to cover legal expenses.
The ruling ends a protracted dispute over whether Ziegler impersonated a Democratic strategist to pry sensitive information out of Morris about the Hunter Biden laptop during a conversation over the phone in 2022.
To Jennifer Holliday, Ziegler’s attorney, the judgment doesn’t even begin to make up for three years of legal battles.
«It’s not really how I envisioned it would play out, and I don’t think that’s how the Constitution envisions that something like this would play out — which is why we filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States to review,» Holliday told Fox News Digital.
FLASHBACK: SWALWELL WAS DUBBED HUNTER BIDEN’S ‘BIGGEST CHEERLEADER’
Entertainment lawyer Kevin Morris arrives to the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on Jun. 06, 2024 in Wilmington, Delaware amid the trial for Hunter Biden’s felony gun charges. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
«I certainly hope that they will take a really hard look at what happened here because this is not a situation that should have ever happened,» she added.
Holliday is asking the Supreme Court to evaluate California’s anti-SLAPP law, arguing the state’s protections for free speech actually only worsened the case by prolonging what she believes were weak accusations.
A person familiar with Morris’ case called the conclusion a formality and downplayed the Supreme Court filing as unlikely to receive a review, noting that Ziegler’s representation had requested as much as $300,000 to conclude the case.
Morris’s legal battle with Ziegler began when Morris picked up the phone and spoke with someone whom he thought was a Democratic operative about the laptop back in 2022. But when, after the call, he received an image depicting a squid, the phrase «NOTHING IS BEYOND OUR REACH,» and the words «Marco Polo,» Morris realized his mistake.
Morris, who reportedly loaned Hunter Biden approximately $6.5 million to bankroll his lavish lifestyle, concluded the caller must have been Ziegler, a Republican strategist who had worked on combing through the contents of the laptop and who had gone on to found Marco Polo. He also previously worked in the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy as a policy analyst.
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Morris accused Ziegler of harassment, criminal harassment, criminal impersonation, false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The case soon soured for Morris when he failed to establish a connection between his phone call and Ziegler.
With the suit in the rearview mirror, Holliday marveled that Morris had kept up his case for three years without ever offering evidence that the call had been linked to Ziegler.
«There was no phone number that was ever presented to the court, to the Court of Appeal, to me, in discovery, anywhere,» Holliday said.
Asked about whom the caller might have been, Holliday said she was not at liberty to discuss the issue.
Asked about the case, Ziegler said Morris was an enabler of Hunter Biden who had knowingly brought a weak case against him.
«Morris is the one responsible for all the bull—- that Hunter pulled over the last couple years,» Ziegler said, referring to funding Morris reportedly gave the younger Biden for his legal services, including paying his rent, buying his art and lending him a private jet, among other payments.
Fox News Digital reported earlier this year that Morris donated $29,900 to now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s, D-Calif., gubernatorial campaign weeks before the campaign collapsed after several sexual assault allegations emerged.
Swalwell, who was dubbed as Hunter Biden’s «biggest cheerleader» in the House, met Morris multiple times during the House Oversight Committee investigations into Hunter’s business dealings.
ABC NEWS WAS WISE TO SETTLE DEFAMATION SUIT WITH TRUMP TO AVOID ‘EMBARRASSING’ DISCOVERY, LEGAL EXPERTS SAY
Garrett Ziegler, author of the Report on the Biden Laptop, is photographed outside the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Del., on Sept. 7, 2023. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)
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Ziegler’s representation has secured a debtor’s exam request for Morris if he hasn’t paid the $50,000 sum ordered by the court within 30 days.
Fox News Digital reached out to Morris’s attorney.
hunter biden, in court, appeals, investigations, hunter biden investigation explained
INTERNACIONAL
Zelensky repudió el ataque ruso contra Kiev e insistió en que reforzar la defensa aérea es una prioridad absoluta para Ucrania
El presidente de Ucrania, Volodimir Zelensky, informó que al menos 13 personas murieron y más de 90 resultaron heridas tras un ataque ruso contra Kiev, que además causó daños en más de 20 puntos de la capital, principalmente en edificios residenciales.
Según el mandatario, Rusia lanzó durante la noche “más de 70 misiles de varios tipos contra Ucrania, casi la mitad de ellos balísticos, junto con casi 500 drones de ataque, incluidos ‘shaheds’ impulsados por chorro”. Agregó que “el golpe principal fue dirigido a Kiev” y que las defensas antiaéreas lograron interceptar “un número significativo de los objetivos entrantes, pero no todos”.
Zelensky insistió en la necesidad urgente de reforzar la defensa aérea del país. «Los suministros de defensa aérea para Ucrania son una prioridad absoluta y crítica. Las contribuciones al programa PURL siguen siendo esenciales: ayudan directamente a salvar vidas“, afirmó.
Además, sostuvo que “cada acuerdo bilateral que alcanzamos con nuestros socios en materia de defensa aérea realmente marca la diferencia” y agradeció el apoyo de los países aliados.
El mandatario indicó que las tareas de rescate continuaban en Kiev, donde los equipos de emergencia retiraban escombros, buscaban sobrevivientes y asistían a los afectados. “Se ha reportado daño en más de 20 sitios en toda la ciudad, la mayoría de ellos edificios residenciales comunes. También hubo daños en una estación de ambulancias, un instituto de investigación, un hotel y negocios”, señaló.
Zelensky precisó además que cinco personas resultaron heridas en la región de Kharkiv, entre ellas una menor de edad, mientras que otras dos sufrieron lesiones en la región de Kiev, donde también se registraron daños en infraestructura civil. Asimismo, indicó que durante la noche las fuerzas rusas atacaron las regiones de Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia y Cherkasy.
El presidente ucraniano destacó la importancia de avanzar en acuerdos para fortalecer las capacidades antibalísticas y reiteró su expectativa de que Estados Unidos autorice licencias para sistemas Patriot y otras iniciativas de cooperación en materia de defensa. “Estos son los tipos de pasos que pueden detener esta guerra y prevenir ataques como este. Agradezco a todos los que están con Ucrania, con nuestra gente y con nuestros esfuerzos para proteger la vida”, concluyó en su mensaje en X.
Ante este escenario, el alcalde de la capital, Vitali Klitschko, afirmó que Kiev sufrió el mayor ataque de las fuerzas rusas desde el inicio de la invasión y agregó: “Mañana, 3 de julio, queda declarado como día de luto en Kiev, en memoria de las víctimas del ataque más masivo del enemigo contra la capital”.
Por su parte, el Ministerio de Defensa de Rusia informó que lanzó un ataque nocturno contra objetivos militares en Kiev. De acuerdo con la versión la cartera, la planta Radioniks, que elabora “sistemas de navegación para misiles de crucero de emplazamiento terrestres de largo alcance Flamingo, misiles tácticos Fire Point 7 y 9, misiles Neptune-MD y misiles tierra-aire del Proyecto Clone”, fue bombardeada. El comunicado oficial señala que “las producciones de la fábrica influyen directamente en la capacidad de combate de la Fuerza Aérea Ucraniana y en sus defensas antiaéreas”.
El reporte militar también indicó daños en la planta de montaje ATLON AVIA, donde se producen los drones de largo alcance An-196 Liuti y los drones de asalto Magura UA, así como otros modelos de vehículos aéreos no tripulados. Entre los objetivos señalados figuran las fábricas Kievski Radiozavod y Trimen Ukraina, especializadas en sistemas de colimado y ópticos de puntería para tanques y blindados, además de piezas para múltiples tipos de drones espías y de ataque.
La empresa Kiev-25 del grupo PV group Ukraina, encargada de sistemas de lucha radioelectrónica Lima, también resultó alcanzada según el ministerio ruso. Además, el ataque incluyó la planta de ensamblaje aeronáutica Antonov, dedicada al diseño y producción de drones como el An-196 Liuti.
Tras el informe ruso y los detalles dados por el jefe de Estado ucraniano, la alta representante de la Unión Europea para Asuntos Exteriores, Kaja Kallas, anunció que el jueves se propondrán nuevas sanciones contra entidades que apoyan el complejo militar-industrial ruso, como respuesta al ataque masivo contra edificios residenciales en Kiev. “Seguiremos aumentando el coste hasta que Rusia entienda que no puede ganar”, publicó Kallas en la red X.
La funcionaria confirmó que el personal de la UE en Kiev se encuentra a salvo tras el bombardeo, que dejó al menos 13 personas muertas y decenas de heridos.
War,Europe,Military Conflicts
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DeSantis announces plans to use new state law to target dozens of alleged terrorist groups
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, announced on Wednesday the state’s intention to use a new state law to designate dozens of groups as terrorist organizations, a move that would still require approval by the Florida Cabinet, prompting legal objections from at least one of the groups.
HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and went into effect on Wednesday.
The governor said the state plans to implement its new statutory authority to «identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida» in the first use of powers established under the legislation.
Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa, though the proposed designations must be approved by the governor and Cabinet before they are finalized under the statute.
FLORIDA’S CAIR THREATENS LAWSUIT AGAINST DESANTIS AFTER HE LABELS GROUP A ‘FOREIGN TERRORIST’ ORGANIZATION
The governor said the state plans to implement its new statutory authority to «identify, designate, and combat terrorist organizations operating in Florida.» (Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
«Last December, I signed an Executive Order to eliminate the influence of radical terrorist ideologies and the organizations that promote them in Florida. This year, I signed legislation to strengthen those protections and give Florida permanent statutory tools to combat terrorism while defending the Constitutional rights of our citizens,» DeSantis said in a statement. «Today, we are officially designating terrorist organizations under Florida law. In addition to CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood, we are adding Antifa to the list—along with more than 90 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including cartels.»
However, under HB 1471, the Chief of Domestic Security may designate qualifying organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist organizations, but the governor and Cabinet may approve or reject those designations by majority vote before they are published in the Florida Administrative Register.
Some of the foreign organizations added to the list include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and gangs such as Cartel de Sinaloa, Tren de Aragua, Cartel del Noreste and Cartel del Golfo.
The new law allows the governor and Cabinet to approve or reject designations initially made by the chief of domestic security within the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
«Keeping our community safe starts with identifying the threat,» Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said. «The safety of our community is strengthened by that knowledge every day, and reinforced by the collaboration between our officers, our federal partners, and—most importantly—the people we serve.»
HB 1471 was signed into law earlier this year and went into effect on Wednesday. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
HB 1471 directs agencies to deny groups public support and taxpayer funding. The law also establishes state enforcement mechanisms and criminal penalties for providing material support to designated terrorist organizations.
More specifically, the law restricts certain public benefits, funding and institutional support connected to designated groups, and creates criminal penalties for knowingly providing, attempting to provide or conspiring to provide material support or resources to a designated domestic terrorist organization.
The law also ensures that foreign or religious legal codes cannot override the U.S. or Florida Constitutions in state courts.
CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group, condemned the move and said it would continue challenging the state’s actions, following the governor’s announcement on Wednesday, saying the organization does not engage in «terrorist activity» and has not been charged or convicted of a crime. CAIR and CAIR-Florida have also previously sued over DeSantis’ December executive order targeting CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood.
«Throughout CAIR’s long history, our civil rights organization has worked to protect the Constitution’s guarantees of free speech, religious freedom and equality under the law,» the group said in a statement. «We have also pursued justice for all people, including American Muslims impacted by hate. This is exactly why Gov. DeSantis has repeatedly targeted our organization. We see through Gov. DeSantis’ latest biased attempt to punish us for our views and our values. We look forward to fighting these baseless attacks in court and proving once again that the Constitution is stronger than any politician’s bigotry.»
FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYS
Florida officials plan to designate more than 90 groups as terrorist organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg)
Critics, including CAIR and civil liberties groups, argue the designations are politically motivated and threaten First Amendment-protected speech and association. DeSantis and state officials have argued the law is aimed at preventing taxpayer support for groups they say promote or support terrorism.
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CAIR and civil liberties groups said they would challenge the designation as baseless and unconstitutional.
«Florida’s imminent designation of our clients is both dire and unmoored from reality. CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s speech and advocacy are protected by the First Amendment, which includes their right to criticize the governor, other officials, and their policies. We’re asking the court to protect our clients’ cardinal freedoms,» Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.
The designations, if approved by the Cabinet, would operate under Florida law and would not be the same as a federal foreign terrorist organization designation, which is made by the U.S. State Department.
ron desantis, florida, antifa, politics, us
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